


Heads or Tails

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I'll update the tags as needed, M/M, Shiro and Keith are cousins, Slow Burn, Spies & Secret Agents, Violence, lots of platonic bonding between the paladins, rivals to friends to lovers, there are gonna be some intense fight scenes but I'm not sure how gory I'm gonna make them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 16:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9558287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Lance McClain is a CIA agent looking for a little more adventure, and he finds it in unexpected places. Namely, his fellow agent and self-proclaimed rival Keith Kogane.(Oh, and they might just have to take down an international gang threatening federal security somewhere along the way.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this is the spy AU nobody asked for. Enjoy!  
> ((The title is based on the song Heads/tails by Hotspur. It's one of my favorite songs and a loose inspiration for this fic, and it's on Spotify if you wanna give it a listen!))

When Lance McClain was accepted into the Central Intelligence Agency, he wasn’t sure what kind of intelligence he’d be receiving. He had expected to learn about government secrets galore; tales of corruption and bombs, double agents and hidden alliances. He wasn’t expecting to learn how many marshmallows Hunk could fit into his mouth at once. Yet here he was, cheering his friend on as he wedged in another sugary mound.

“Yeah, man!” he crowed, earning an annoyed glance from Pidge, who was curled up in the nearby corner, scrolling through various files on her laptop. She said nothing, though, and her brows furrowed in focus as she went back to her work. Work that Lance and Hunk were _supposed_ to be helping with. He had reassured himself Pidge would have seen any attempts to help as more of a hindrance than anything, and the two were simply staying out of her way.

Lance turned back to Hunk, who was now trying to covertly spit out the marshmallowy mass into the nearby trashcan. He gave Lance a guilty glance as he realized he had been spotted.

“Aw, c’mon! I thought you were gonna make it to twenty!” Lance protested. Hunk responded with a small shrug.

“Sorry, dude, but all that sugar was overwhelming. Besides, don’t you think we should get a little work done?” He nodded his head towards Pidge, who was diligently typing away. “It’s not fair to leave everything to Pidge.”

Lance rolled his eyes and was about to answer with a groan when the door to their office swung open. Lance immediately slid into his chair and grabbed the nearest stack of papers, suddenly acting very interested in what seemed to be some kind of chemistry data... Something to do with a concoction called "quintessence". Hunk had reacted similarly, pulling up a random set of files on his computer screen and appearing very invested in meticulously scrolling through each one.

Pidge gave a quick nod to the person standing in the door, eyes still trained on her screen. Lance heard a huff of amusement before the newcomer stepped into view.

"If it _had_ been Allura and not me, you two really would have been screwed, huh?" Shiro crossed his arms and gave Lance a stern look.

"...No! We were definitely working! Doing research! I just needed to stretch my legs and you startled me, that's all." He gave what he thought was a convincing grin, but he was met with a skeptical raise of Shiro's eyebrow.

"Alright, fine," he conceded. "Maybe counting how many marshmallows Hunk can fit in his mouth is not, in fact, the kind of research you're looking for. But can you blame us? We've been stuck doing desk work in this office for almost two months now! I'm getting cabin fever." Hunk wordlessly nodded in agreement.

"I know how you feel, Lance, I really do." Shiro let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his bleached hair. "But if you can't complete simple tasks like running background checks on one guy, how are you supposed to carry out a mission in London?"

Pidge perked up at Shiro's words, hazel eyes sparking in interest. "London, you say?" Her voice was edged with hope.

"Yep, London. You won't have to worry about cabin fever any more, Lance. You guys have a new assignment." A smirk flitted across his face as Lance jumped out of his seat, pumping his fists in the air. Hunk gave him a hearty high five, and Pidge ran over to Shiro and wrapped her arms around him. She mumbled something too soft for Lance to hear, but Shiro seemed to understand, his eyes shining with emotion.

In the midst of their celebration, the office door swung creaked open again, revealing a slim figure who hesitantly took several steps forward. Lance paused for a moment and turned his head towards the late arrival. As soon as he recognized who exactly had slid into the room, he scowled.

“Fancy seeing you here, Keith,” he huffed, sounding slightly more bitter than he had intended. “Did it occur to you that our shift started, say, three whole hours ago?”

Normally, Keith would have snapped back at him immediately with some witty retort, and the two of them would have descended into one of their regular bickering matches. This morning, however, he simply gave Lance a blank stare before shuffling over to his desk. Shiro frowned, clearly worried by his cousin’s lack of response.

From Lance’s angle, he could see that Keith was in bad shape. His shirt was a wrinkled mess, his hair was greasy and knotted, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he had rolled out of bed fifteen minutes ago, though it was doubtful he had slept at all. Lance’s gaze softened as he looked at the agent slumped next to him.

“Hey man, did you have a rough night or something?” He knew Keith was notorious for being secretive about his life outside work, and he was probably the least open to Lance of all people, but he felt somewhat obliged to make up for his last snide comment.

“...You could say that,” Keith croaked. He kept his eyes trained on the papers piled on his desk, barely moving his lips as he spoke. Lance winced at the hoarseness in his voice.

“Jeez, man- you _really_ don’t sound good.” Lance paused for a moment, choosing his words. “Is it anything you wanna talk about, or-”

“No.” The sudden edge in Keith’s tone startled him. “Look, I appreciate the concern or whatever, but no, I really do not want to talk about anything. I’m tired and I feel like shit. I just… don’t really want to talk at all right now.” He rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes, making it clear he was done interacting with anyone for the time being.

Lance gave Keith one last worried glance before turning to face Shiro again. It was evident that he had also picked up on Keith’s disarrayed state, and his brows were knit in a frown. Hunk and Pidge exchanged troubled looks before looking up to Shiro as well.

"So, um, we're headed to London," Hunk spoke quietly, as if to avoid disturbing Keith. "When, and why?" Shiro snapped back into focus and pulled out a stack of folders he had been toting under his arm. He spread them out on the table beside him, gesturing that each agent should take one.

“These are the briefings. Feel free to read through them later. For now, I’ll just give a quick summary. You’re looking for a guy by the name of Zach King. The CIA’s had eyes on him for a couple years now, but haven’t been able to find anything useful yet. You would know a bit about him if you had actually been doing the research you were assigned.” He paused and narrowed his eyes at Lance, who gave him a sheepish grin. “It’s normal Clandestine Services business. In and out. Shouldn’t be a problem for you guys.”

Pidge nodded thoughtfully as Lance and Hunk eagerly grabbed the briefings. Keith raised his head from his desk and mechanically reached out to grab a copy. Hunk shot him a sympathetic gaze and he turned away sharply.

“One last thing,” Shiro started, his voice increasing in volume as if he were trying break the rising tension in the room. “Allura wants to meet with you and discuss some details about the assignment in thirty minutes.” He paused for a moment and lowered his voice again. “Keith, if you’re not feeling up to it, I can explain to Allura-”  

“I’ll be fine.” Keith met Shiro’s searching gaze, his dark eyes giving away nothing.

“Okay, if you’re sure. Well, that’s all I have for now, so get a start on that paperwork before you head down to Allura’s office.”

 

* * *

 

Lance let out an exaggerated sigh as the group trudged down the hallway to Allura’s office. The corridor was unusually devoid of activity, and their footsteps echoed eerily in the silence. He cast a glance at Pidge, who was scuffing the floor with her shoes as she walked.

“So, Pidge, you know I _read_ the briefing, but I might have skimmed over a few details-”

“-On what page did you stop paying attention?”

“Three.” At his response, Pidge let out an exasperated huff and rolled her eyes.

“I’ll tell you if you buy me lunch for two weeks after we get back from London.”

“Jeez, you drive a heavy bargain.” Lance made a pained face. “Fine, only because I know Allura will rip my head off if I admit I didn’t thoroughly read, highlight, and annotate that  cursed briefing.”

Pidge snorted, amused. “So, anyways, Zach King. He’s your average wannabe cyber-terrorist suspect. His mom was Korean and his dad was French. Went to some uptight rich kid school in New England and dropped out at age 17. Worked in IT for some online healthcare company based in Boston that went out of business a few months ago. There was some internal hacking that got the company convicted, and Zach was a suspected instigator. They couldn’t find anything on him, though.

“So that’s why we go in. Try to get any dirt on him that we can. If we find something, they’ll keep tracking him. We’re basically there to check up that he’s still a suspicious guy, and if we find something useful in the process, then that’s great. It's basic reconnaissance.” She looked at Lance expectantly.

While the revelation that their assignment was fairly trivial frustrated Lance, there was something else that was eating at him after listening to his friend. He chewed on his lip thoughtfully, thinking back to their conversation with Shiro in the office. All at once, it clicked.

“Shiro said the CIA had been tracking this guy for a couple of years, now. But if the company’s closure happened a few months ago, why were they watching him before then?”

Pidge’s eyes widened as she realized what Lance had just pointed out. “ _Holy shit,_ ” she breathed. “There was nothing in the file about previous offenses. I mean, maybe Shiro just made a mistake but-”

“-Since when does Shiro make mistakes?” Lance finished her sentence. His voice was gravelly, the realization having sobered him. She nodded in agreement. “So, do we tell Allura?”

“Let’s double check with Shiro first. But… I think the less people that we tell, the better. This whole thing seems kind of fishy.” Pidge sped up her pace, stepping into line with Shiro and Hunk, who were deep in discussion about the creation of some new gadget Hunk had been researching. Keith was trailing slightly behind the two, his shuffling steps indicating that he was still feeling under the weather to some degree.

“Hate to interrupt this conversation about the absolutely _riveting_ features of cell jammers, but our dear friend Lance just discovered a pretty big issue with this case.” She looked pointedly at Lance, who stepped forward to match his friends’ speed. Hunk gave him a bemused glance, and he responded with a cocky grin.

“Don’t look so surprised, now,” he said indignantly. “I’ll have you know my brilliant mind has been the reason for many successful missions.” He made an offended noise in his throat as Pidge snorted.

“Alright, o mighty Lance, god of all intellectuals. Tell these weaklings what your all-seeing mind has discovered.” She mimicked a dramatic bow in his direction.

“I should smite you for your insolence,” he retorted jokingly. “Anyways, on a more serious note- the mission.” His smile faded, as did Pidge’s. Shiro, Keith, and Hunk looked on expectantly.

“So the briefing we got said that the company Zach King worked at closed a couple of months ago,” Lance started off. “But, Shiro, didn’t you say the CIA has had eyes on this guy for a couple of years now?”

“Yeah, when I first came into the CIA they had people tracking him.” Shiro scratched his chin, looking unsettled by Lance’s words. “But I was too busy with my own cases to really ask why. Are you sure there was nothing in the briefing?” Before Pidge could reply, Hunk cut in.

"I don't want to be _that guy,_ but does this connection really matter, even if it’s not a mistake?” Everyone turned to face Hunk, caught off guard by his words. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I mean, that’s not our job here. We’re just checking to see if this guy is dangerous so they can call in more experienced agents, right? No need to throw stones in a glass house or whatever.”

Lance opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. While it didn’t feel _right_ , Hunk did have a point. Maybe they were making a big deal over nothing. To his surprise, it was Keith who spoke next.

“The CIA doesn’t make mistakes like this,” he started, his voice still ragged and tinged with exhaustion. “They wouldn’t accidentally leave out years worth of information on a case briefing, regardless of the importance. Besides, we’re CIA agents. Isn’t it our job to question suspicious things?”

“Nicely said, Keith.” Shiro nodded his approval. “Hunk, while I appreciate your caution, this isn’t something we should let slide. At the very least, we should let Allura know.” Hunk mumbled an “okay” in response, looking resigned.  

Keith stayed silent. It seemed as if he had checked out of the conversation as soon as he had shared his input. Still, when he looked up, Lance shot him a grateful glance. Keith averted his eyes. Before Lance could start to speculate what exactly had caused his disheveled state today, Pidge cleared her throat.

“Guys, we’re here.” Lance looked up to find they were at to Allura’s office. Shiro stepped up and rapped sharply on the oak door. A faint rustling could be heard from within, and a few seconds passed before the door cracked open. Allura smiled welcomingly, her eyes sparkling.  

“Hurry on in. We’ve got a lot to talk about before you depart for London.”

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, chapter one is done and dusted. I'm not terribly happy with it, but I really just wanted to get it posted. I had fun doing it though- I got to do lots of research on modern espionage and the CIA, which is a lot different than I expected it to be, but still pretty interesting! (If there's anything that seems incorrect to you, please let me know!)  
> My tumblr is kiibooty, but I reblog most Voltron stuff onto my sideblog galraing. Come yell at me on either blog!!  
> Kudos and comments mean the world to me, so feel free to leave some!!


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